Posts Tagged 'HD'

Ben Kozuch called me a while ago to inform me that he is doing another post production event in Israel. Ben is the co-founder of Future Media Concepts, Apple certified training center with several branches worldwide, one of the producers of NAB, and a major player in the certified training area.

When I went to see the speakers, I liked what I saw- especially seeing David Helfand as a keynote speaker. You can see the rest of the speakers here.

The event covers many topics, but personally I am waiting for the ones about advanced editing techniques, HD workflow, and advanced keying. The speakers are also top notch. It is not a cheap deal – but it worth it from my perspective, as it is not that common to see trainers of this caliber in Israel. If you are attending – come and say Hi.

Disclaimer – Pravda Media is a marketing partner of the event. And we always market things we believe in.

…One thing is becoming increasingly clear, while more people are “snacking on Internet video“, the real “meal” continues to be TV….Events look great on HDTVs, whether they are sports, shows or movies. Quick hits and short clips are great for the internet. Sure some people will watch shows that perform better on other platforms on the net. We all use what we have available when its our only choice. Which is why so much video consumption online is in the office. Its our only choice. Replays and breaking news and anything that helps us kill time are what we will use our MIDS, PDAs, and phones for.

The platform is the message from viewers to content providers.

Reading his post made me think about the basics.

TV or TV Set?

In the past, TV and TV set were the same thing. You couldn’t watch TV shows, unless you had a TV set. TV sets where connected to a broadcaster which in turn provided content to TV sets.

Today the situation is different – you can buy TV shows in iTunes, or watch them online. Therefore, TV, at least for me, is a creative definition. The Wire is great TV. Olympics is a great TV event. But I can watch these events and shows on different devices – computers, HDTV sets, iPods, etc.

TV set is still the best way to watch long form content. It is the closest thing to movie theater you can get. Events, movies and high end shows will always look better on that set.

Internet – Distribution or Format?

The internet changed its form over the years. It is true that internet videos are short – as users tend to view them in short breaks in work, and due to the form factor (small screens). But when I connect my laptop to my TV – there is no difference in the experience . Therefore there shouldn’t be any difference in the format. And when online video becomes another part of the EPG, who cares where did the content come from? When AppleTV can deliver both high end movies and low budget indie flicks directly to your TV through the Internet – what is the platform? Is it TV or Internet?

The Missing Link

Like in every vision, the missing link is a business model. In my opinion, if online distribution and monetization would have been profitable enough, we would have seen more direct to internet TV quality shows. As long as the average online video CPM is 12$, nothing will change the current level of Internet originated productions. But I am positive that things will change as ad dollars are going online.

…”To some extent, the Olympics are beginning to influence how people use new technology,” said Alan Wurtzel, research president for NBC Universal…

However, the revolution is not there yet:

…By far, however, television is still the preferred format. Of the estimated 107 million people to experience at least a few minutes of the Olympics on Sunday, 95 percent watched it on TV, NBC said….The number of people requesting Olympic content over their phones is still relatively small — 494,506 on Sunday and 476,062 on Monday — but NBC executives say they’re stunned at how many of those never used the phones for this purpose before…

The reason might be that HDTV experience is richer than what online video can offer today. Two questions rise from these figures:

Does this mean that live sports, the holy grail of mobile content – does not fulfill its promise? And would things change when online HD infrastructure, coupled with internet connected TV set will be a common media product?